Be Still
by Land of Parchment and Ink
Summary: When a nightmare plagued Law and filled his broken heart with doubt and fear, Corazon made things clear for him with words and a song. Cover image is credited to saisai-chan from Tumblr.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own One Piece and The Fray.

**Author's Note:** Because Cora-san singing this particular song to Law is just too damn right.

* * *

><p><em>Be Still<em>

.

.

.

On the fifth month of their search to look for a non-existent cure, Law quietly watched as Corazon made camp for the night. The tall man occasionally tripped every now and then, getting up with a slightly miffed expression and mumbling a curse at his own clumsiness every now and then. The twelve year-old helped gather wood and insisted on making the fire himself, reminding the older male in an annoyed tone that he was tired watching Corazon set himself aflame. The Heart Executive responded by smacking his fist hard on the hatted boy's head.

Dinner, at least, was a nice enough affair. Corazon grilled some fishes that he caught in the river earlier. He insisted for Law to eat the remaining fish, but the child disagreed and demanded for them to share. The boy snorted with mild annoyance when the blond sobbed exaggeratedly with happiness and claimed Law to be too kind and generous.

"It's just fair because you caught and cooked them, you dork!"

When it was time for bed, Law wordlessly made his way on his bedroll and turned his back on Corazon who was seated on the grass beside him. The child pulled the blanket up to his chin and merely grunted a reply when the older male bid him goodnight. Oblivious to Corazon's sad sigh, Law closed his eyes and slept.

"_We don't have enough doctors and blood and everything! There must be a way to take Amber Lead out of people's bodies! It's not contagious! Why doesn't the Government say this?!"_

"_Brother, it hurts… my body's becoming all white…"_

_Gunshots echoed within the hospital. His parents lay on the floor, bloodied. Their eyes were glassy and lifeless._

_A warped voice proclaimed that two infected individuals were successfully exterminated._

"_Mother! Father!"_

_He remembered Sister's words that there was no despair in this world and that someone will definitely lend him a helping hand. He seriously remembered her because she always spoke the truth._

_She always did…_

_But now she lay dead, along with his classmates in front of the church._

_He screamed their names in denial, his words futilely willing them to wake up. But like his parents back in the hospital, they remained cold and motionless. Dead._

_Realization hit him at the thought of the hospital. How could he leave his ailing, precious little sister all alone in that place?_

_As fast as his tired and wobbling legs could carry him, he ran all the way from the blood and death and destruction towards the place he once called home, only to find it being devoured greedily by hellish red flames._

_He weakly fell to his knees. His sister, the only family he's got... there was simply no way for him to rescue her now._

_How could he leave her all alone in that place?_

_How could he?_

_How dare he leave her all alone, crying and hurting in her room?_

_Everyone was dead, and now his bright little sister joined them just because he left her all alone in her bed._

_He did not deserve to live._

_The burning hospital told him so._

_His beloved town going down in flames taunted him, scorned him for being left alive. The corpses he used to hide from the people to escape scorning his very existence. You should have died with us, they mocked him. Why are you still alive? Why you, and not us?_

_The lifeless bodies of his family stiffly got up on their feet and looked at him with empty eyes._

"_Why did you leave us, son?" his father's angry voice asked him, his once kind face twisted with fury._

"_Don't you love us anymore?" his mother added, blood pouring out of her eyes instead of tears. Between his parents stood Lamy, her smile filled with hate._

"_Why did you leave me all alone in my room, brother? I know! You just want to save yourself!" she accused him in a falsely cheery voice. Behind her, Sister nodded her head angrily._

_Some citizens of Flevance all got out of the mass grave and surrounded him. He was trapped and there was no way out._

_They dragged him towards the grave where the rest of the citizens were waiting for him. They pulled him down into the darkness, all the while taunting him for running away and wanting to live when he ought to be dead like them. He struggled with all the strength left in him, but they were much, much stronger. He kicked and pushed to no effect, Lamy's hate-filled smile focused at him all the while…_

"_Just close your eyes, Law," his father whispered diabolically in his ear._

"_Come now, love, it's not a difficult thing to do," his mother added._

_Lamy's smile become painfully wide. "It's not so bad down here. Just close your eyes and sleep together with us, big brother Law…"_

"Law, wake up! I said wake up, damn it!"

Law's eyes flew open, his screams tearing through the silence of the night. He barely paid any heed to Corazon who was hovering before him, large warm hands wrapped around his slight shoulders and was giving him a hard shake. Law continued to scream in his half-dreaming state, weakly pushing himself off Corazon's grip. The man before him was one of them, he was trying to drag Law back to be buried alive and tormented for an eternity in the cold, cold darkness…

Warmth filled Law's body in an instant, strong arms pulling him closer to a broad chest. He still struggled feebly, afraid that the warmth was just a deception until he felt a hear beating just as frantically as his. The last remnants of sleep left him, along with the nightmare that accompanied it. A gentle voice was whispering words of comfort in his ears, slowly but effectively calming his panicked self.

"Shh… I'm here; I won't let them get you… Hush now, you're safe. It's just a bad dream…" Corazon whispered, gently rubbing his back and willing him to fully calm down.

Law's shoulders shook. He grabbed fistfuls of Corazon's shirt and pressed himself closer against the man, sobs racking his body. The boy realized that he was crying with relief, glad that the blond managed to wake him up. He was so scared; afraid that he might never open his eyes again.

"It's just a bad dream, Law. Hey, stop crying, alright?"

The boy nodded furiously against the warm chest, sniffling weakly.

"I won't leave."

Law whimpered, "Please don't."

Corazon heaved a deep breath and continued to rub the child's back gently. When he stifled a yawn, Law realized that his screams woke the blond. Embarrassment blooming in his chest, he pulled away and helped Corazon in drying his tears. When the blond gazed at him curiously, eyes silently pleading to _"Tell me what the nightmare was about"_, Law weakly shook his head and lay back down on the pallet, wiping a few stray tears that stubbornly made their way down his cheeks.

With a look of understanding, Corazon silently watched him covered himself with the blanket. Grey eyes looked up at the twinkling stars above, his mind drifting to his deceased family. Did they hate him for being alive?

"Don't even think about them hating you, Law."

The boy looked at Corazon and saw the blond gazing back at him, shocked. How did he know?

"I can hear you talk in your sleep at night. Do you really think that your family hates you for surviving? Shame on you then, if that's what you think!" Corazon told him fervently, eyes flashing in the firelight. "If there is one thing they should be feeling right now, that's happiness! Think how happy they are for you being alive and having the chance to be healed! Think how much they love you!"

As much as he hated to admit, Corazon was right. It was the reason why his parents did their very best to find a way to cure people with Amber Lead Syndrome. If they weren't killed, they would have done everything to make sure that him and Lamy lived. And Lamy herself would make sure that her big brother would not lose hope by giving him her brightest smile ever. Ashamed, Law looked away and berated himself for letting a nightmare dishearten and fill him with doubt and fear.

His parents loved him. Lamy loved him. For him to live and not follow them to a path no one could go back to was what they wanted. They loved him. It was the truth Law knew he should believe and hold on to until his dying day.

"_Be still and know that I'm with you._

_Be still and know that I'm here._

_Be still and know that I'm with you._

_Be still, be still and know."_

Corazon's voice pulled Law out of his thoughts. The boy looked at the blond and saw that the latter was gazing up at the stars, eyes wistful and calm.

"_When darkness comes upon you_

_And covers you with fear and shame._

_Be still and know that I'm with you,_

_And I will say your name."_

Blinking, Law slowly sat up and listened intently to the gentle tone in the clumsy man's voice.

"_If terror falls upon your bed_

_And sleep no longer comes._

_Remember all the words I said._

_Be still, be still and know."_

Corazon tilted his head to look at him. The blond then gently pushed Law and urged him to lie back down, to which the boy quietly followed. Grey eyes never tore their gaze off the usually calm and goofy man before him, surprised and secretly awed at the fact that Corazon was singing. The blond smiled softly at him. "Go back to sleep, Law."

"Can you… Can you continue?" Law asked hesitantly, grey eyes pleading.

Corazon nodded and gladly obliged.

"_When you go through the valley_

_And shadow comes down from the hill._

_If morning never comes to be,_

_Be still, be still_

_Be still._

_If you forget the way to go_

_And lose where you came from._

_If no one is standing beside you,_

_Be still and know I am."_

Law's eyes slowly slid shut, Corazon's voice gently lulling him to sleep. He did not know why, but the blond sounded as if he was making a promise out of the song. To be honest, Law hoped Corazon did.

But to Corazon, it was already a promise. And one day, he hoped and prayed to have the strength to tell Law that it was a promise he would never break.

"_Be still and know that I'm with you._

_Be still and know I am."_

And from then on, nightmares never plagued Trafalgar Law ever again. And if they suddenly did and managed to fill doubt and fear in the child's broken heart, Corazon was there to chase them away.


End file.
